10 Best Cities to Find a Job

You'll have to invest in some serious winter gear if you're interested in moving to the best city for finding employment in America. That title goes to Minneapolis, according to a survey recently done byAjilon Professional Staffing. According to the study, which was published by Forbes, not one city on the West Coast made the top ten list, although the others are fairly evenly scattered throughout the rest of the US.

Ajilon compiled its list using Department of Labor statistics and insights from its regional market branches. Each of the cities on the list has anunemployment rate of 8 percent or lower, below the current national average of 8.9 percent. A number of other factors were also considered in determining the list, including the diversity of industries in the city, cost of living, the range in size of companies offering employment, and level of higher education among its residents.

Minneapolis-St. Paul rose to the top of this year's list partially because of the fact that hiring is on the rise there for many of the big industry players in fields including financial services, health care, retail, and manufacturing -- contributing to a lower level of unemployment.

Also, there's an increased demand in Minneapolis for specialty positions, including specialty tax and compliance, IT audit and SEC-related experience. Combined with additional factors including relatively low cost of living and low crime and poverty rates, the Twin Cities comes out on top of the list.

You'll find much warmer temperatures in the second best city. That would be none other than the very hip Austin, Texas. It rated high on the list because of its low cost of living and diverse talent pool. Austin's thriving educational community also contributed to boosting job growth in the market. Home to several major universities, including the University of Texas, local businesses can select from a vast pool of well-educated recent graduates.

2011's Top 10 cities:

1. St. Paul, Minn.
2. Austin, Texas
3. Salt Lake City, Utah
4. Boston, Mass.
5. Milwaukee, Wis.
6. Richmond, Va.
7. Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
8. Baltimore, Md.
9. Pittsburgh, Pa.
10. Dallas, Texas

 

"All of these cities possess unique characteristics such as low cost of living and heavy diversity of industry that bring about an optimal environment for low unemployment in their areas," said Jodi Chavez, senior vice president at Ajilon Professional Staffing.